Broom Lore (Part 3)

Concluding our epic 3-parter on Broom Lore

Sometimes the broomstick was regarded as having power to repel witches; perhaps with the idea of turning their own magic against them. At any rate, a broomstick placed across the threshold of a house was supposed to keep witches out. 

A broomstick could also be a luck symbol. When alterations were being made to an old house at Blandford in Dorset in 1930, a broomstick was found walled up in the structure. It was recognized as having been put there for luck, and it was allowed to remain in its hiding-place.

These additional meanings of the broomstick are in accord with its phallic significance.

Things that are sex symbols are life symbols, and hence luck bringers and protectors against the Evil Eye.

When broomsticks or besoms began to be made of more durable materials than the broom plant, the usual combination of woods for them was birch twigs for the brush, and ashen stake for the handle, and osier willow for the binding. However, in the Wyre Forest area of Worcestershire, the traditional woods are oak twigs for the sprays, which is the makers’ term for the broom part; hazel for the staff; and birch for the binding. All of these trees are full of magical meanings of their own, and feature in the old Druidic tree alphabets of Ancient Britain. The ash is a sacred and magical tree; the oak is the king of the woods; the hazel is the tree of wisdom; the willow is a tree of moon-magic; and the birch is a symbol of purification.

More Broomlore

There are many beliefs based on the Broom as it made its genesis from medicine staff to symbol of Rebirth. The wedding broom represents a joining of souls working together as they jump over the Broom into their new life together. When a bride and groom moved into a new house, a new broom was be used to sweep a little dust into the door. Then this swept dust was placed onto the hearthstone to retain blessings.

Broom Folklore

1) Never step over a broom laying on the floor, if you do & are unmarried you will stay that way.

2) When moving into a new home, a loaf of bread & a new broom should be sent in first for good luck.

3) It is bad luck to take a broom across the water.

4) Never lean a broom against a bed.

5) To keep a ghost out, lean a broom against the door jam.

6) To drop a broom means the company is coming.

7) To give away a used broom is bad luck.

8) A broom should never be used to sweep dust out of the front door because it sweeps the luck out with it.

9) Never sweep a house at night. It is an insult to the faeries & the spirits of the dead.

10) A broom standing outside the front door says that the lady of the house is away & the men of the house are at liberty to entertain guests.

An A to Z of BROOM LORE:

A broom dropping in front of the door means company before the day is over.

Always pick up, for luck, a broom that is lying on the floor or ground.

Always sweep dirt out the back door or you will sweep away your best friend.

Bad luck will befall you all year, if you sweep on New Year’s Day.

Burn up the rubbish when you sweep on New Year’s Day and you will have money throughout the new year.

Carry a broom under your arm for luck.

Carrying a broom over your shoulder will give you bad luck.

Do not sweep immediately after the departure of a guest or you will sweep him bad luck.

Dropping a broom while sweeping is the sign of a new carpet.

Hitting someone with a broom means that he will go to jail before a week has passed.

If a broom falls as you are passing it, you will have bad luck.

If a broom falls in front of you and you step on it before picking it up, you will have a “bed of sickness.”

If dirt is swept out a door before sunrise, you may expect bad luck.

If dirt is swept out of the house on Friday, the house will burn.

If someone comes in to see you and you pick up a broom and go to sweeping in front of them, that is the sign they are not wanted and you want them to go home.

If you go to someone’s house and have to step over a broom, it shows that the mistress of that household is an untidy housekeeper.

If you hand a broom through a window to someone, you may expect bad luck.

If you hit a person with a broom just before he starts “uptown,” he will have trouble before returning.

If you let a broom fall and do not step back over it immediately, someone dirtier than you will come.

If you must borrow a broom, take it without the owner’s knowledge, and you will not have bad luck.

If you must sweep on New Year’s Day, you can avert bad luck by not taking up the dirt and leaving it in a pile on the floor.

If you must sweep your kitchen after sunset, you can avert bad luck by burning the dirt.

If you step over a broom you will be arrested.

If you sweep after dark/ You will bring sorrow to your heart.

If you sweep after dark, you will sweep out the money made that day.

If you sweep in front of someone, you are sweeping them off the earth.

If you sweep under someone while he is sitting on a chair, you are giving him bad luck.

It causes bad luck to sweep a porch after dark.

It is a sign of good luck to have a broom drop in front of you.

It is a sign of misfortune, to lay a broom on the bed.

It is unlucky to borrow a broom.

It is unlucky to sweep dirt out a door at any time. Pick up the dirt and carry it outdoors for luck.

It is unlucky to sweep on Monday.

It means bad luck when a broom falls across the derail

It signifies bad luck, if you sweep under a bed on which someone is lying.

It signifies bad luck, to carry a broom through the house from the front door to the back door.

Keep the corners of your broom square or even for luck.

Lean a broom against a bed and you will be unlucky.

Lending a broom will cause you bad luck.

Let the broom rest with the straws up and you will be lucky.

Letting the sweeping edge of a broom wear off at the two corners will bring you bad luck.

Never burn up a broom; it will bring you bad luck.

Never sweep dirt out the front door; it will bring you bad luck.

Never sweep the kitchen after supper, whether daylight or dark, or you will sweep out all your money.

Never sweep your kitchen early in the morning before sunrise, or you will be unlucky.

Stand a broom on its handle and you will always be poor.

Step over a broom and you will break your mother’s back.

Stepping over a broom is a sign of slovenliness.

Stepping over a broom will bring sorrow to your heart.

Stumbling over a brook handle will bring you good luck.

Sweep after dark and you will never be rich.

Sweep dirt out of the house on Friday and it will cause you bad luck.

Sweep on the third day after Easter and you will have bugs in the house.

Sweep the top of a bed and you will have bad luck.

Sweep under a person’s feet while he is sitting in a chair and he will not grow any more.

Sweeping after dark means you will lose a friend.

Sweeping dirt over a doorstep after six o’clock in the evening will bring bad luck.

Sweeping on New Year’s Day means that you will sweep out the money made during the coming year.

Sweeping under chair upon which someone is sitting will make you unlucky.

The child who steps over a broom will get a whipping.

The one who is hit by a broom will soon be arrested.

The person under whose feet you sweep will always be poor.

The person who is hit on the top of the head with a broom will be arrested.

To avert bad luck after you have walked over a fallen broom, step backward across the broom.

To brush your boot with the broom while your are sweeping will give you bad luck for a week.

To have good luck, place the broom on its handle in a corner.

To set a broom in the corner with the brush up shows that you are an untidy housekeeper.

To step over a broom will start a quarrel in the house.

To sweep after dark will bring trouble to the house.

To sweep dirt out the door is a sign of a slovenly housekeeper.

Touching anyone with a broom while you are sweeping causes bad luck.

Walking over a fallen broom will cause you bad luck.

When a broom falls across the door, it indicates that you will walk on the strange ground.

When a small child takes a broom and begins to sweep, the company is coming.

When someone is hit with a broom, he should spit on the broom and take ten steps backwards so he will neither have bad luck or be arrested.

When you sweep after dark, you sweep away your friends and let enemies in.

You sweep away your best friend by sweeping after dark.

You will be unlucky if you do not pick up a fallen broom at once.

Your luck will be swept away, if you sweep your kitchen after sunset.

Blessed Be

Merlin

ooooOOOOoooo

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Merlin.